Reunion
by Lord Winterman
Summary: A simple action causes destiny and fate to be rewritten. Alternate universe (as of now) one-shot. Future plans to expand. I do not own Naruto. That honor goes to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just using the world as a sandbox for this fan-fic.


Obito flew through the treetops, faster than he ever had before. He had been sitting in a cave trying to recover from being crushed by a boulder, and out of nowhere, Zetsu tells him that Kakashi and Rin are in danger. Gurguru helped him get out, and Madara did not stop him, both of which he was grateful for. Now he was racing to their location. Madara had said the Sharingan's power was greater with both eyes, he just needed to get to Kakashi, then they would protect Rin.

Mid-jump, Obito's mind blanked out and he found himself skipping across the ground, bouncing off tree roots. Jumping back to his feet, he tried to regain his bearings. The trees were different than the ones he had just been jumping through and rain fell on him.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud.

Before he could hear Zetsu reply, an image faded into his mind, right were his missing eye should have been. Blood, mud, and rain splattered as the person whose eyes he was looking through whipped around, cutting through a shinobi wearing Kiri forehead guard. A glance over his shoulder, he could see Rin, following at a slower pace.

Again, Obito's mind blanked out, this time keeping his balance, and he found himself kneeling on a hilltop overlooking a battlefield. Kakashi and Rin were surrounded by enemies. He could see Rin's mouth moving, pleading with Kakashi. He could read her lips as they formed every word, but two words stood out from all the others: "kill me".

It was almost imperceptible, but Obito could see the myriad of emotions in the young jonin's eyes as she said this. Fear and resignation. Horror. But underneath it all, he could see resolution. It became clear for what when he shoved her aside and activated chidori.

 _He's keeping his promise,_ Obito thought. Genius, prodigy or whatever other title one could tag to Kakashi, he could not defeat those shinobi on his own. Obito gritted his teeth. His friends were in danger. He had to help them. Without thinking, Obito found himself standing in the field, his hand sticking in a Kiri shinobi's chest.

"What are you doing?" Zetsu asked.

"People who abandon their friends are the worst kind of trash," Obito replied.

The Kiri shinobi stood dumbstruck as they processed what had happened. Walking to his friends, Obito remembered what Madara had said on how he survived.

 _Let's see..._

Grabbing Kakashi and Rin, both of whom were surprised at his sudden appearance, he tried to recall the experience of being crushed under the boulder. To his relief, he put them at the treeline.

 _Neat,_ he thought, _I'll have to learn that trick later._

Both of his friends looked at him in shock, not recognizing him.

"Stay here, Rin, Kakashi," said Obito. "It's my turn to protect you, now."

Jumping down to the foot of the hill, he focused through his eye. Black flames spouted out, blanketing the battlefield. Feeling the technique drain him, he stopped it and leaped into the battlefield, landing into the middle of a grouping of survivors.

Instinctively, Obito generated a wooden blade from his prosthetic arm and grabbed the nearest enemy. Even without the killing intent that Obito was casting off, the bloody eyes, murderous gaze, and living armor opening up were enough to scare his victim to soiling himself.

Driving the wooden blade into the man, Obito snapped it off and threw his victim at the man's friends, where the corpse suddenly, and violently grew, skewering six of them. The spines that made up the mask slammed shut as he turned to face the survivors. Three of them bombarded the boy with kunai and shiruken, while their companions began furiously signing.

"Suiton: Water prison jutsu."

"Suiton: water chains."

Just as the two shinobi released their jutsu, Obito had already landed behind them, skewering them as he caught the swordsman mid-swing. With a psychotic grin, Obito used the strength of his living armor to crush the man's wrists and wrench the blade free. A brace of kunai flew past him. With his newly acquired weapon, he decapitated the screaming man and leaped at the blade throwing shinobi. The first two went down with slashed throats and no resistance. Their friend signed and pointed at the berserking Uchiha.

"Raiton: lightning-"

The incantation was cut short, along with the offending appendage.

Searching for more targets for his rage, Obitio found himself surrounded by four foes. He could only flinch as they all simultaneously plunged their weapons into his torso.

"Two katana, a jian, and a blade-staff." Obito noted, chuckling. "That tickles."

Glancing at the nearest attacker, Obitio activated his Sharingan and plunged the man into a personal hell with Tsukuyomi. Swinging his arm around, he caught the next Kiri shinobi in the chest, caving the bone into her internal organs.

Whipping his hand back, he barely missed his next victim's head. Guessing where he was going, Obito settled for impalement, stabbing him with a wooden blade. The last of the four gave up his sword for loss and slid back as Obtio spun to hit him.

"Suiton: Water cannon jutsu!"

The jet of water slammed Obito back, nearly knocking him over, if not for the soggy soil lacking the necessary traction. With a grunt, Obtio ejected the blades from his body. Snatching the blade-staff from the air, he threw it like a spear, sinking it to the hilt on a fleeing ninja.

The remaining Kiri ninja surrounded Obitio, some already signing their techniques.

"Get the prisoner and her friend," one shouted. "We'll deal with this one."

Budding a quick array of stumps, Obtio took the departing shinobi down with a wooden dart apiece. Seeing his men fall to the ground, the leader looked at Obito. Matching his gaze, he tried to control his breathing. The display had obviously done a number on him.

"So I'm guessing you're from Konoha." the leader said, chagrined. "I never figured they had someone like you among their ranks. To tear through squads of Kiri elite…what are you? Senju? I haven't heard of Mukton user since your first Hokage."

"The dead have no need for names," Obitio said, smiling under his mask. He looked at the assembled shinobi, those still standing, cackling like a madman.

Focusing out of his eye once more, Obtio swept his sight around, incinerating all but the leader, who managed to escape his field of view by falling into the swampy ground. When the technique ended, a number of corpses burned in the mud and blood oozed from around his eye.

The leader emerged from a mound of mud, steam rising from his shoulders.

"I didn't make it to jonin by being weak," he growled.

"Obitio, you're going to-" Zetsu began.

"Shut up!" Obito hissed, signing quickly. "Katon: grand fireball jutsu!"

The Kiri jonin dove to the side, flinging a pair of kunai.

Rather than dodge, Obito slapped the blades, activating the explosive tags attached to them, the blast sending him careening through the air. Dragging himself to his feet, Obito cursed his lack of attention. His Sharingan had deactivated from the sudden exertion of chakra he had inadvertently use to protect himself. He glared at the enemy as he stepped over his fallen comrades. Refocusing, Obito tried to use Ameratsu again, Zetsu screaming as the last of its chakra was sucked out of him to fuel the black flames. The Kiri shinobi flinched, but calmed when he saw the technique sputter out inches from his face.

"It seems your black flames are limited," the Kiri jonin said. "A shame. For you that is. I think it's time to end this."

A sudden crunching noise interrupted any further action. The jonin looked at the lightning wreathed hand protruding from his chest as it flickered out.

"Yes," Kakashi said, pulling his arm free. "It is time to end this." Withdrawing his hand, Kakashi let the jonin fall, splattering mud when he hit the ground. For a while, he stared at Obito, which became awkward really fast, then Obito remembered the mask. The infernal covering failed to withdraw as it had before, and was dry. Dryer than it should have in a monsoon. Raising his hand, he pulled the mask off, the cover breaking apart in his hand.

"Hey, Kakashi," said Obito cheerily. Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Obito? Is that really you?"

"Come on, who else would be pulling your butt out of the fire? How's the eye working out for you?"

Rin landed next to her teammates.

"Hi, Rin." Obito said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. To his surprise, bits of Zetsu were falling off.

"You're really alive?" She asked

As Obito remembered, Kakashi went to business. "It won't be long before this many dead nin are noticed, especially after your...display." Following Kakashi's lead, the trio jogged out of the clearing. The trees offered little protection from the elements, so they began looking for a cave. When they were sure that they were reasonably safe, Kakashi went to his questions.

"Where were you?" Kakashi demanded. "If you were alive, why didn't you report back?"

"It's…it's a long story." Obito sheepishly replied.

"I think we have time now."

"No we don't." Rin said. "You have to finish me off."

Her teammates stared at her.

"Why!?" Obito asked, breaking the silence. "We just saved you!"

"You don't understand," She replied. "They sealed the three-tails in me-"

"We can work-"

"Let me finish." Obito flinched at the sharp tone. "On top of their normal seal, they put another one, which will release it as soon as I'm in Konoha."

Obito felt helpless. He had just gotten back to his friends, and now Rin was saying that she had to die. _No!_ He had come too far to give up this easily.

"Sensei will know what to do." Kakashi said.

Obito frowned as he fell into thought. "But how do we get to him, and him to Rin, without setting Rin's secondary seal off?" he asked. "Can we at least get her to the Land of Fire?"

"I have a better idea. And it fulfils all the conditions we require and is closer, too. It's a friendly encampment we have near the coast."

"Of course!" The Uchiha resisted the urge to slap himself upside the head. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Can you move, Obito?" Rin asked.

"Well enough," he replied confidently.

Kakashi nodded. "We'll rest here for an hour then move out." The three of them slumped against the walls of the cave, Rin hugging to Kakashi. Obito felt a pang of envy, which he promptly squelched.

Hearing his connection to the Zetsu he had paired with Obito die, Madara sighed. The boy had an astounding amount of luck on his side. Still, while it was a good plan, he did not necessarily hang too much on this plan working. Too many variables and moving pieces to be a sure shot.

He just had to fall back to his original schedule. Sure, he had inadvertently given Konoha another tailed beast. Sure, he had tipped some of his hand early with the boy, but the chances of someone believing that he, Madara, was still alive were dubious at best. The possibility of anyone in power letting that information out to the open were practically non-existent.

Above all, he was immortal. What were a few more years to him?

Taking a deep breath, Madara absorbed the energy he had stored in the statue, revitalizing himself. The original Zetsu gave the Uchiha a confused look as he stood up.

"Let's move our base of operations," Madara said. His eye shifted, spiraling around. And then the hideout relocated to another part of the Elemental Nations.

Kakashi suppressed the urge to fidget.

As soon as they had gotten to friendly forces, both of his teammates had been spirited away for their respective "treatments". Rin was with Minato and some other sealing experts. The initial speculation had been iffy, but with a genuine master at sealing on hand, hope was not in too short a supply on her end.

Obito, on the other hand, after some brief medical attention, had been taken in for interrogation. His survival and absence had propped him to the top levels of suspicion. And that was before the accounts of the battle had come in. The origins of his new techniques were another source of concern.

No one since the Shodiame had been able to use wood techniques, and as far as Kakashi knew, Obito had no shared ancestors with any of his descendants. Yet he had seen Obito clearly using Mukton techniques with abandon, and to great effect. His display with the Sharingan was also rather breathtaking. Kakashi had counted almost fifty enemies, even after he had exhausted himself fighting. To see all of them go down in a couple of minutes, to techniques he had never seen with his own eyes or even heard of before. In fact, the only technique he recognized was one of the Uchiha staples, the grand fireball.

Now that Kakashi had time to review the day's events, he realized that Obito had only once signed and incanted. For that one move.

It was going to be hard to be seen as the best of his class once word of that got around.

A familiar visage and blond hair stepped through the tent flaps where Rin was being held.

"How does it look, Sensei?" Kakashi asked.

"Kushina is touching up the seals right now. Rin needs some rest from the ordeal, but apart from the overhaul on her chakra network, which is not a life-threatening concern right now, she is well on the road to recovery."

"What about Obito?"

"I wish I knew. Interrogation still has him. Knowing those guys, they'll be grilling him for a few hours or more before they let up. Inochi will probably have a verdict by tomorrow morning, though."

Minato managed to force a smile. Strenuous as the circumstances were, he had gotten one of his students back. If nothing else, they would at least have some closure.

"Captain Minato," a Hyuga called, landing next to man in question.

"Yes, Hizashi?"

"Inochi called for you. We have some...troubling intel we need to run by you."

Kakashi tired not to let his apprehension nor his exhaustion show. Not until he knew how Rin and Obito were. Minato, however, picked up on it anyways.

"Get some rest, Kakashi." He said, placing a calming hand on the young jonin's shoulder. "You look like a stiff wind will knock you down. I will make sure you get as full a story as possible in the morning."

Obito wanted to fall asleep. He felt immensely tired, but sleep seemed to be far off. Minato-Sensei had been checking him for anything the old freak might have left on him, but, to their mutual relief, Obito was cleared…for now. The subsequent interrogation he had gone through had been grueling, so many questions with no answer he could give or an answer that he could not properly explain. His ancestor being alive was one that troubled them the most. The fact that he was sporting an organic prosthetic and an esoteric elemental release were just as perplexing to the interrogators.

He thought back to a few days earlier. A field of gore, broken bodies, and burnt remains. The whole thing was both horrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Even Kakashi had been impressed. Or at least, Obito hoped he was. He was definitely surprised, something that he had only accomplished once before. Rin had been too tired to judge her reaction, but hopefully neither of them would be scared of him.

 _Dang it!_ He thought, slamming a closed fist into the ground. _I want to sleep!_

Rest eluded him throughout the night. Aggravated, he got out of bed and walked out onto the dewy ground, finding a nice place to sit and watch the sunrise. He could tell people were watching him as he walked through the camp.

 _They're waiting for me to betray them._

Someone cleared their throat behind him, causing him to jump. When he saw it was Kakashi, he relaxed. _That cave was way too quiet._

"Hey, Kakashi!" Obito said.

"Hey," Kakashi replied. Obito frowned. Something was weighing on his teammate's mind.

"In case you were wondering," Obito said, hoping to ease the tension, "I don't need to take that eye back. It was a gift, and it looks like you've been making good use of it so far."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask, but...thanks."

"No problem! So what were you going to ask me about?"

"Just curious as to how you're doing."

"All things considered, I feel pretty good. Glad to have some good company again."

"Nice hair, by the way."

"Really? It's longer than Rin's now, isn't it." Obito paused and looked at Kakashi. "You're joking."

"That wasn't joking," Kakashi replied.

"Compared to the way you normally are, you're joking. You're always so grim and serious. This has to be breaking several universal laws." Obtio grinned at the young jonin, but quickly sobered. "So, how's Rin?"

Kakashi tensed, but relaxed. "She's going to be fine." Obito sighed.

"What happened since...?"

"The war is still going, as you probably guessed. I'm not sure how much longer it's going to be though."

"Are you two…you know?"

"We're…working on that."

"Oh."

"I-"

"Don't," Obito said, waving. "Why should I begrudge your happiness? You all had every reason to think I was dead." Mollified, Kakashi relaxed again. "Just remember that if you do anything to break her heart, I'll be sure to break yours." Kakashi nodded his acknowledgement.

"It's good to have you back, Obito."

Junko dove through the underbrush as a jet of water turned the tree behind her into matchwood. Whatever technique that girl had used was not one she wanted experience like half her team had. Running was the best idea for the time being.

 _Where did these freaks come from?_

The mission to retrieve some sensitive documents from Konoha had initially gone off as planned, but someone had caught a glimpse of them and alerted everyone else. Eluding the ANBU had been no easy task, and they had lost two people to ensure the mission's success, or so they had thought. The first of the problems had been when the silver haired kid had popped up from practically nowhere, gutting Hachi with some crazy lightning technique and promptly disappearing. The girl had popped out next, taking out the twins with a technique that she had heard the Hokage had used in the war, grabbing them both then disappearing into thin air.

Mentally swearing up a storm, Junko kept pressing forward. It was up to her to complete the mission now. Her boss would not be pleased, whoever he was. Momentarily glancing back to check for pursuers, Junko turned back to find herself on a collision course with another kid. Her last thought before her consciousness failed her was about the absurd scarring that covered half his face and the solitary red eye staring back at her.

Tying up the unconscious intruder, Obito allowed a satisfied smirk. By now the other intruders were likely back in the village awaiting T&I's… _care_. Grabbing the woman by the wrists, he Kamui'd back to base and dropped her off with her fellows, dispelling the genjutsu after the chakra-inhibiting cuffs were applied. Kakshi and Rin had helped with securing their own prisoners and fell into step with him.

"Another successful mission," Obito declared. "Who's up for lunch?"

 **A/N: Okay, for those of you curious, this is initially going to be a one-shot. I have pages of notes and a complete, if rough synopsis written down for this. However, I want to get more progress for both** ** _Apocalyptian Saga_** **and** ** _Finding Yourself_** **before really working on it.**

 **I'll post an update when that happens.**


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